Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, an image of Google's forthcoming Pixel phone has leaked, Disney is rumoured to be preparing to bid on Twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will today detail his plan to sustain human life on Mars and more.

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A leaked image of Google's forthcoming Pixel smartphone has been published by VentureBeat ahead of Google's hardware launch on October 4. The phone, made by HTC under the codename "Sailfish", is the smaller of two Pixel models that Google is expected to announce, and is set to have a 5-inch 1080p display, along with a 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The event is also expected to see the launch of a 4K Chromecast and Google's Daydream VR headset.

Bloomberg reports that, "according to people familiar with the matter", Disney is currently considering buying Twitter. Few details are available, with both companies declining to comment, but Twitter has been moving into live sports and news streaming: an outlet likely to appeal to Disney, which owns US news and sports TV networks ABC and ESPN. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is also a member of Disney's board. However, rival bids are also rumoured to be in development from Salesforce, Microsoft and Alphabet.

Weed firms are using Instagram influencers to dodge regulations

Later today, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is to address the 67th International Astronautical Congress, delivering a keynote speech entitled Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species (Popular Science). Musk will discuss "the long-term technical challenges that need to be solved to support the creation of a permanent, self-sustaining human presence on Mars" as well as the technical practicalities of building architectures suitable for long-term human habitation in the red planet's inhospitable environment. The speech will be streamed live at 19:30.

Nasa scientists have revealed that water vapour plumes may be being emitted from the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa (WIRED). The find - made using the Hubble telescope - is significant because it means we could potentially investigate Europa’s ocean and more easily look for “organic chemicals or even signs of life” that originated within it without digging through miles of ice. William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore said that "if plumes exist this is exciting. It means potentially easier access to signs of life from below the icy surface."

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The people of Switzerland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strengthening the country's government surveillance and security powers (Ars Technica). In a national referendum held on Sunday, 65.5 per cent of Swiss were in favour and 34.5 per cent against the proposed legislation, which will give Switzerland's intelligence agency the right to deploy microphones and video cameras in private locations, intercept phone and internet communications and install malware on computers. In order to use these powers, the Service de renseignement de la Confédération (SRC) will require the permission of the defence minister, the cabinet and the Federal Administrative Court, although in cases of emergency, permission can be sought after the event.

Lenovo has announced further job cuts, saying that "the majority of the positions being eliminated are part of the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business as the company further aligns its organization and streamlines its product portfolio to best compete in the global smartphone market" (The Verge). While the company says that the layoffs will affect "less than two percent of its approximately 55,000 employees" – roughly 1,100 people – they follow 3,200 jobs lost last year. Lenovo says that it plans to retain its Motorola Mobility headquarters in Chicago.

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Open Whisper Systems' secure messaging app, Signal, has introduced desktop app support for iOS (Gizmodo). The Chrome-based desktop app, which was first launched for Android users last December, automatically imports Signal conversations and contacts from your phone by having you scan a QR code using the Signal mobile app. Signal uses end-to-end encryption to ensure that only the sender and recipient have access to their messages and the Signal Protocol is currently the gold standard for instant messaging security. Note, though, that the messenger can only provide limited protection if your PC is compromised by other means.

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The movie rights to indie mystery adventure game Firewatch have been picked up by Good Universe, the production company behind Seth Rogen vehicle Neighbors and the US remake of OIdboy (The Hollywood Reporter). The first-person game, set in the wilderness of 80s Wyoming, follows fire lookout Henry as he investigates mysterious events in the woods and, via radio, gets to know his supervisor, Delilah. Sean Vanaman of game maker Campo Santo said that "when we met Good Universe we were floored by how they recognize, cultivate and produce incredible stories. It's rare you meet another group that shares so many of your values and makes the process of creating things even more exciting. We can't wait to see what we make together."

The BBC has revealed that it'll be bringing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, Stardust, to Radio 4 as an audio play (The Radio Times). Due to broadcast this winter, the book is being adapted into a two-part drama by Dirk Maggs, who also directed the BBC Radio adaptations of Gaiman's Neverwhere and Good Omens, based on the novel co-written with Terry Pratchett. Maggs is also working on an adaptation of Gaiman's short story, How The Marquis Got His Coat Back, set in the Neverwhere universe.

The first ever computer-generated pieces of music have been restored, bringing back to life three melodies that were last heard more than half a century ago (WIRED). The melodies, including God Save the Queen and Baa Baa Black Sheep, were captured by a BBC team on a visit to Alan Turing's National Computing Laboratory in Manchester in 1951. Created by Turing's gigantic Mark II computer, the melody was played out through a series of short sounds (which Turing described as a mix between a "tap, a click and a thump") using a loudspeaker. When played quickly enough the distinct sounds blended together, creating music. To listen to a snippet of computing history, click here (mp3).

Eight months after the death of one of the world’s most beloved musicians, the spirit of David Bowie still lives on. An unreleased album of his work in the 1970s has been uncovered and is now available to stream. Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) is released today in a new box set which includes songs from the previously unreleased The Gouster album and other records released during those years. The Gouster was recorded in between Aladdin Sane and Young Americans in 1974, and was made during a break from touring in Philadelphia. Producer Tony Visconti has restored the original mixes to create a sublime new catalogue of music from the rock star.

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